Fourth time’s the charm – Eve Muirhead claims Beijing gold to live Olympic dream

Eve Muirhead claimed the Olympic title at the fourth time of asking after steering Great Britain to an emphatic 10-3 win over Japan in Beijing.

Here the PA news agency takes a look back at how Muirhead has fared across her four campaigns on Olympic ice.

Muirhead was just 19 years old when she made her Olympic bow in Vancouver – and she was overwhelmed by the experience. Her team won just three out of nine round-robin matches and were knocked out of the competition.

Fresh from winning her first world crown the previous year, Muirhead led her team to Sochi with great expectations. Despite a tough semi-final loss to Canada, Muirhead bounced back to beat Switzerland and claim a bronze medal.

Muirhead finished third in the group stage but a semi-final defeat by Sweden left her in a second consecutive bronze medal match. This time Muirhead missed a relatively simple shot to win the match, and finished off the podium for the second time.

Muirhead’s inexperienced team rode their luck to edge through the group stage. A thrilling come-from-behind semi-final win over Sweden set up a chance to take revenge against the Japanese – and Muirhead ruthlessly seized it to become an Olympic champion at last.

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